


Another Way

by best_of_pjo



Category: Heroes of Olympus - Fandom, percy jackson - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fate, HoO - Freeform, One Shot, PJO, Rick Riordan - Freeform, percabeth, rickriordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27708199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/best_of_pjo/pseuds/best_of_pjo
Summary: Annabeth doesn’t really hate Percy, but that won’t stop her from keeping up this dumb rivalry.ORThe one where Annabeth knows of Percy’s prophecy long before he knows it, and she won’t let herself be vulnerable again, even if it means keeping a rivalry with him.
Relationships: percabeth - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Another Way

**Author's Note:**

> hii!! as the holidays come up, idk how often i’ll be able to update, but i’ll try to bring stuff to you guys!! thanks sm for all the support, MWAH

“I think we could be friends.” 

Annabeth paused, her hands hovering over a dirty plate. She considered what the consequences would be if she smashed the object over Percy’s head, just enough to knock him unconscious. Jail time, she concluded. Even if he lived? she asked herself. Jail time, her brain responded once more. 

“I thought I told you to shut up.” 

“Well, then it’s a good thing I wasn’t listening.” 

Blabbering on like a child. A fool. A foolish child. Annabeth wanted to punt Percy across the cafeteria like a football, out of her sight and mind. It was his fault they were here, after all. 

“So back to my point,” he continued, unprompted. “I was thinking about it when you, you know, threw an apple at my head. We’re actually kind of similar.” 

Annabeth didn’t glance at him, as he did to her. She kept scrubbing the plates to ensure this nightmare would soon be over and a memory of the past.

“We’re both powerful demigods. I mean, no one’s really challenged me since I got here. And even if I hate you, it’s kind of nice having someone around who…I don’t know-“

“Isn't afraid of you?” Annabeth offered. She rolled her eyes. “News flash, you need to get your head out of the gutter, Seaweed Brain. Just because your dad is some Big Three God doesn’t mean you’re allowed to act like some big shot.” 

Percy smiled a wicked smile. “See? That’s what I mean. You’re terrible.” 

Annabeth finally set down the plate and dried her hands with a towel, turning to face the son of Poseidon. “And that raises the question—why would you want to be friends with me? Huh?” 

He shrugged. “I didn’t say I want to,” he admitted. “Just think we could have been, maybe. If things were different. I think we were always destined to be either besties or enemies.”

Annabeth made a sour face. Maybe she’d thrown the apple too hard. Percy seemed to be suffering from some minor brain damage. 

“A daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon will never be ‘besties’,” she said, making air quotes as she spoke the final word in a harsh manner. She turned her attention back towards the sink. She recalled what had happened earlier at dinner—Percy making a stupid remark, Annabeth blowing up and throwing her apple, Chiron yelling, and finally, both of them being punished by having to wash dishes together. 

Percy waited a few seconds, then finally shrugged again. “Guess you’re right. I bet your mom would freak if we ever became friends.” 

Annabeth snorted at that. “Right,” she said, which had to be the first time she ever agreed with Percy Jackson. It felt weird, but also peaceful. Familiar, for some reason. 

“I wonder if there’s ever been a child of Athena who fell in love with a child of Poseidon,” Percy wondered out loud. Annabeth was initially caught off guard, then pondered the idea. 

“Don’t think so,” she decided. At least, she didn’t think she’d ever heard of any stories like that. “Hm, that’d kind of be like the most epic love story of all time, right?” 

Percy furrowed his eyebrows as he made the water a little warmer. Annabeth thought he looked so much like his father in that moment. It was a little bit unsettling, for his expression to mirror so closely to the one of a god. 

“You're...right.” His face suddenly brightened. “I should suggest that to my mom for her next novel! She’d love that.” 

Annabeth let out a small chuckle. Don’t get her wrong, she was serious when she said she and Percy would never be friends. That could and would never change. It was just the way things were meant to be. 

But she glanced at him, the thirteen year-old demigod who was destined to be one of the greatest heroes of all time. As he picked at a small spot on a plate, he just seemed so normal, so friendly. 

Before she could even consider possible alliance, Annabeth recalled the prophecy she’d read at the young age of ten. She knew of Percy’s fate, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle losing another friend. Not after Thalia. Not after Luke. 

Annabeth turned away and let the conversation die. Her rivalry with Percy was never about their parents, or anything he ever did. She didn’t care about any of that. Instead, it was the gloomy fact that everytime she thought about becoming his friend, the prophecy would linger in the back of her mind, a cruel poem foreseeing his painful and inevitable death. 

No, she wouldn’t trust herself to be strong if something happened to another friend. 

They finished washing the dishes and parted ways at the end of the night, all civil conversations staying in the kitchen forever.


End file.
